Life At Its Best: Use God's power for his purposes

Sept. 16, 2011 at 4:16 a.m.

By Jim Graff

Several years ago, my son was playing on a Little League team that was fighting for first place in the league. We'd gotten ahead early in the game, so our boys were growing excited about a potential win. But that excitement quickly waned when they noticed the storm clouds above. We felt the rain sprinkling, and neither our boys nor our parents wanted to cancel the game and have to play again. We wanted a win.

I'll never forget one of the dads looking at me and saying, "Hey, aren't you a pastor? Can't you do something about this rain?" I knew he was joking, so my reply was simply, "Sorry, I'm in sales, not management." We both laughed and hoped the rain would clear.

I started thinking about it later and realized that if I could have prayed and stopped the rain that day, I probably would have. But the truth is God doesn't answer prayer when I want something done, but when He wants something done, in and through me.

See, God has put specific purposes on the inside of every heart. He has made us to have a passion about things He wants fulfilled in and through our lives as his church. It's when we get in touch with those purposes that we find God's power revealing itself through our prayers and obedience.

1 John 5:14-15 says, "This is the confidence we have in approaching God: That if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us, we know that we have what we ask of him."

We see this confidence in Acts 3 as Peter and John are on their way to the temple for prayer. They're about to enter when they noticed a crippled man being carried to the Temple Gate. Every day, this man was brought to the gate to beg from those going into the temple courts to worship. That's exactly what he did to Peter and John when they walked by.

The Bible says Peter and John looked straight at the man, and said, "Look at us, silver and gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk!"

Instantly, this man's feet and ankles became strong. He begin to walk, jump and praise God all over the temple courts. It was a miracle. His life was forever changed.

See, Peter and John focused on what it was this man really needed from God, and it wasn't money. It was God's power to bring healing to his life. It was God's help to restore him and make his life a testimony to those who knew him.

We'll never lack God's power when we're pursuing his purposes in our lives. Whether it's in our home, marriage, business or church, we can have confidence that God's grace is enough to accomplish all that he has planned for us.

Jim Graff is the Senior Pastor of Faith Family Church in Victoria, Texas. www.faithfamilyvictoria.com